2007 BMW 3 Series
Complaints about this year name lock far more often than the other years of this generation — 13% of them, about 12× the usual rate of 1.1%.
Generation 1 of the BMW 3 Series, which began in 2006 and ran to 2011. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 1,039 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 227 |
| Involving a crash | 29 |
| Involving a fire | 61 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| EPA combined | 21 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- lock — 17.8% of this year's complaints, against 4.8% across the other years of this generation (3.7×). Owners wrote it as: lock, red, wheel lock, column.
- 328xi — 8.5% of this year's complaints, against 3.3% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: 328xi, bmw 328xi, 328xi contact.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- door — 13% of complaints, 5× usual
- doors — 10% of complaints, 9× usual
- steering — 12% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
THE REAR DOORS WON'T LOCK AND THE FRONT DOORS WON'T UNLOCK AND THE GAS LID WON'T OPEN! THIS JUST HAPPENED OUT OF NOWHERE. READ ONLINE BY LOTS OF FOLKS THAT'S IT'S AN DOOR ACTUATOR AND WRONG FUSE. DEALER IS VERY AWARE OF THE DEFECT AND LOTS OF FOLKS HAVING THE…
THE KEYLESS ENTRY FUNCTION FAILED TO OPERATE WHEN HE ATTEMPTED TO UNLOCK THE VEHICLE. THE FAILURE AFFECTED THE FRONT AND REAR PASSENGER DOORS DISALLOWING HIM TO ENTER THE VEHICLE. THE DEALER REPLACED THE ACTUATOR AND THE [VIN] WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE HOW…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 12E029000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 22V119000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the BMW 3 Series was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2007 BMW 3 Series? What happened to yours?
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